Means for finishing motion picture screens



Aug. 27, 1940. J. J. TEODONNO I MEANS FOR FINISHING MOTION PICTURE SCREENS Filed July 5, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet l Mm m N N N\ \m N N a Um I N VEN TOR. 7Z000/v/v0.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 27, 1940. J. J. TEODONNO MEANS FOR FINISHING MOTION PICTURE SCREENS Filed July 5, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VEN TOR. J05PH 7Zo00/v/v0 ATTORNEY.

g- 1940- J. J. TEODONNO 2,212,576

MEANS FOR FINISHING MOTION PICTURE SCREENS Filed July 5, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 MIN 5 M 'nnj 15 u /4 2 1; F 28 I ma; i 2; Ji.

INVENTOR. J06Pl-l J 7Z000/v/v0.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 27, 1940. J. J. TEODONNO MEANS FOR FINISHING MOTION PICTURE SCREENS Filed July 5, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY I - %A l 5 ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 27, 1940 Ii cm .Ihiszinvention. relates to an 'apparatus for painting large surfaces and more particularlyfor painting and-refinishing motion picture screens.

.m beenmadeto repaint-them by'hand, Such attemptslhave never. beenqsuccessful. If the painting. is.-doneq.with abrush; it is impossible vfor the most experiencedipamter to avoid brush marks -over lapping strokes, etc. which result in It blotches upon' the'screen when the latter is illuminated by theprojector. Thesweeping of the brush across the screen causes the paint tobe wiped into the ,perforationsto clog the latter. and cause then drips or i run marks on; the screen.

20 Attempts .have; been made to use an air brush for-tthisripurpose but the. same objection applies to the-air brushsince it is impossible for an operator; to always over-lap his strokes the same amount and toalways hold his air brush the same 25 distance: fro n the screen so that blotches' and streaks. appear. @If the. air brush is not held .at

an exact vertical angle, from the screen, it. will blowpaintinto theholes the screen and clog them similarly tothe ordinary brush. 30 line, principal object of this invention is to provide an apparatus more particularly for use up n m tion piet res e n ch can b quickly and. .;eas ily setup in relation-to any desired screen; which, will applyan absolutely perfect,

. 35 uniform coating of painttotthe entire screen available forrefinishing the projector screens, it

, is essentialthat the apparatusbe so constructed thatit may ,be quickly and easily erected, used 50 and removed soasto not interfer'e with the regu lar screen performances a v 1 t JI'he presentinvention satisfies all of these req 'rjements ,andflprovides .an apparatus which be1"quickl y erectedwhich 'will refinish the is lar est .s reeaic 129 1249.? m t sia MEANS Fon FINISHING?MdTiON PICTURQ SGREENSQ; .it 5 f5 Joseph J. Teodbnnm'Denver, Colo.

' Application y 5,1938, seriarno. 217,458'

- Claims." (01. 91-45) which: can quickly bejremoved from the screen so.:.thatl the. show may, go;,on. 1 w --.Other objectsand advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention which is.de-, signed for simplicity, economy, and; efficiency. 5 These will become more apparent from the following description.

. In the following detailed descriptionof the in-' vention reference is :had to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. .Like nu- 'meralsrefer ,to like parts in all views of the drawings and throughout the description.

In :thedrawings: A t Fig. 1 is a face .view of atypical motion picture screen with the invention in place thereon.

. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of;one extremity of the crossbeam employed for supporting-the brush carriage, r

Fig. 3 is an end view'of the cross beam. 3 Fig. A is a planjview of one extremity thereof.

1-Fig.-5,i s,a perspective view of the brush carriage a, H Fig. 6 is a detail view of oneof the vertical standard clamps. V I t t Fig; 7. is a side view of a .joint in the ve'rtical standard.

Fig. 8is a front view of the brush carriage.

Fig. 9 is a side view thereof. U

. Fig. 10 is a side view of a 'hanger member for the crossbeam. V I v Fig. ii is a frontyiew of the hanger member.

Fig. 12 is a detail View of, thetop of one of the standards. i 1 The usual motion screen consists of a perforated flexible sheet I'D, usually formed of rubbertically-traveling horizontal cross beam l5 upon which a carriage I6 travels and supports an air brush ll. 1 M The carriage is continuously reciprocated back and forth along the beam I5 by meansof an electric motor [8. The beam 15 isuniformly lowered .in front of the screen while the carriage reciproe cates backand forth across the screen. The low ering opera'tion and the reciprocating operation are inabsolute synchronismwith each other so that the coating of paint which is applied is uni! form ellret te, .1 i a a a a at the screen so that it will blow directly through the perforations in the screen to blow any paint therefrom and prevent clogging. The brush held spacedat a uniform distance from the screen-by means of-the standards I4 therefor a uniform efficient coating of paint is automatically applied to the screen independent of any human element.

The vertical standards M are sectional, each section carrying adowel I9 which is insertable into the adjacent section to form a continuous standard. Each section carries a projecting stud 20. which is received in a sleeve 2| on a clamp member 22. clamped. to the frame I2 by means of suitable clamp screws 23.

A supporting foot rod 24 telescopically projects from the lowermost standard locked in any place thereon by means of suitable set screws 25. This construction enables the-sections of the standards to beassembledto accommodate screens of any. desired height. Fractional-heights are accommodated by the extension foot rods 24. The beam I mayhaveany desired shape, it being" preferred to form --it with a triangular shape, as illustrated in Fig-2, with its forward face carrying-two, spaced-apart track tubes 26.

The beam" is in convenient sections which are bolted-together by means of clamp bolts 2] to accommodate screens of any desired width. The

track tubes 25 are aligned with each other in the assembly by means of dowels-similar to the dowels employed in the standards i4.

Thebeam i5 is supported at each of its extremitiesby means ofa flexible -rope'23 which passes over sheave wheels 29. The-upper sheave wheels are supported from hooked bracket arms 30 which slip intothe-open upper extremities of the standards -14; "The two ropes 28 are carried downwardly about guide pulleys 3i thence inwardly through a screw eye 69 at the middle of the stage so that they may be operated in unison to raise or lower the beam. a "Thebeam is guided along the standards by means of hangers 32, shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

Each'h anger carries a pairof'grooved rollers 33 which ride against-the standard'. The hangers are 'remov'abl-y attached to the horizontal'track tubes 26 by meansof clamping members 34, so

forth alon'g the beam bythe motor 18 which is of-areversible type. The motor it drives a drive pulley 37 at one extremity of the beam through the mediumnf a system of belts, and counterpulleys 38; e

A'flexible tension member 39, which is preferablylformed from a long, round leather belt, is attached at one oi its extremities to the carriage l6 and extends from the carriage around the drive pulley tlthence returns along the entire length of the beam through the carriage and about afreturn pulley which is carried by one of the hangers 32 thence returns to anattachment with the opposite side of the carriage. "Suitable att'a'c'hmentfrings ii are provided in" the carriage The clamp membersmay be firmly l4 and can be with "four 7 The air brush is perpendicular with the face of A pivoted reversing arm 42 is mounted at each extremity of the beam in the path of the carriage It can be seen that when the carriage moves to the extreme left, it will push the left hand reversing lever 42 outwardly, causing it to pull on the cord 44 to snap the switch lever 45 over to the reversing position. This immediately reverses the motor I8 and starts the carriage moving toward the right until it contacts the right hand reversing lever 42 to snap the reversing switch lever 45 over to again reverse the direction. Thus, as long as the electric currentis on, the carriage will reciprocate back and forth at a uniform speed. i. X Y I t The brush I1 may be any of the usual varieties available on the market. The one-preferably employed is the typical hand operated air brush provided with. a pistolgrip 48 and a fingentrig' ger t9. Thepistol grip'48 is slipped into asocket t! on the carriage. The socket isdesigned sons to rigidly support the air brush perpendicular to the ,planeof the carriage. A loop" member 50 is'slipped over the finger trigger 49. The'"100f) member is secured to one extremity of a bll crank lever 5| which is pivotally mounted on the carriage. The other extremity of the lever 5! extends upwardly and outwardly to a connection with a tensionspring 52 whichcontinuallwurges thelever upwardly and the loop 50 outwardly to allow the trigger to move to theclosd position.

The trigger is pulled to the open position by means of a pull cord 53 which is connected" to a; ratchet slide member 54 mountedto slide 'verti cally on the carriage. The slide member '54 is connected by means of a flexible tie wire 55 with the bell crank lever 5| sothat, When the slide is pulled downwardly, thelever will also be pulled downwardly to draw uponthe loop 50a'nd. pull the trigger to the open position. v

The trigger may be held at'any desired-degree of opening by means of a seriesof ratchet teeth 56 formed on the slide member 54 which engage a ratchet pawl 57. The ratchet is constantly held against the side'of the slide member- 'by means of a tension spring 58. A releasing lever 59 projects from the ratchet pawl and i-s"con' nected to 'a second'pull cord 60 whichwwhen' pulled upon, releases the ratchet 5'1 and allows the "spring 52 to snap the trigger to the closed position. Y

Thus, the two cords 53 and 60 give the-operator complete control at all times. By drawing on the cord 53, he can open the air brush any desired amount and, by drawing on the cord BIL'he can close the air-brush.

Paint is supplied to the air brush through a paint hose 6| from a pressure pot -62. -Air} is supplied to the airbrush through an; air'h ose63 from a compressor 64 as is usual in' air' brush' practice. 5i- In use, the beam His/hoisted totl'ieextr'eme top of the screen or above, the oarriageisrur'i to one extremity of the beam. A" marking tack Wis placed in the floor of 'the'stage in the pathof the ropes 28 a fixed distance from the screw eye 69. I It has also been found advisable to lace astripof' paper 65 across the topof the *Scr en I anraave 3 ifbriitheifirstitriali ofJ-thenainabrushxu il hefibrush isrstarted' bysdrawing lup'on the-cord- 53" andmthe moms M18 uisrtstartedst :filhe; brush 11S: adjusted to throw strip of the desired'iwidth andv'density. lllieroper latbrathen grasps the two ropes 28 at .the marker; fl 0 oniz-the:.'stage floor and, wheni'thercarvtriage t-rfeaches: its extreme right: position, .he. moves the: two: ropes isi-multaneouslyztd. the screw; eye-169, the previously 'i m'arked distance whiclrf corre+ spends to the Width? of-the'lpaint stripbeing applied by the air brush. He continuestlii'sat eacli'rfiipi ocatidn of tlie carriage until the beam reaches the bottom of the screen. The-intervals of movement of the beam are such as to allow the thin edges of the air brush strokes to overcan be completely and perfectly coated in twelve minutes. i i

{To assist the operator in judging the condition of the paint sprayfrom his position below the carriage, an electric lamp 6B is mounted upon the carriage immediately above the air brush which remains illuminated during the entire operation. Current is carried to the lamp through a flexible cord 61. Current is fed to the motor by means of similar flexible motor cord 68.

While the invention has been described as particularly useful for motion picture screens, it would, of course, be very useful for painting any larger surface where complete uniformity of coating and extreme speed in application was desirable.

While a specific form of the improvementhas been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, Within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described; the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a painting device having an air brush mounted on a vcarriage that reciprocates horizontally between two vertical standards, a means for remotely actuating and setting the-trigger of said brush to control the flow of air and paint therethrough comprising: a bell crank lever pivotally mounted onsaid carriage; a looped mem ber attached to one arm of said crank lever and designed to slip over the trigger of said brush; a resilient means attached to the other arm of said lever to continually urge said trigger to the closed position; a ratchet member slidably mounted on said carriage adjacent said crank lever; means for connecting said latter arm and said ratchet member so that they will actuate together; a ratchet pawl mounted adjacent said ratchet member and positioned so as to engage the same, means for continually urging the engagement of said pawl with said ratchet member; means depending from the ratchet member for actuating the trigger of said brush to any desired opening; and means for remotely disengaging and engaging said pawl and said ratchet member so as to set the amount of air and paint flowing through said brush. I

,2. An apparatus for painting a motion picture screen comprising vertical standards for disposition at opposite sides of the screen, a beam extending between said standards and shiftable vertically thereon, clamps carried by said standards in spaced relation to each other longitud nally thereof and extending forwardly from the standards for grippingsideportions of'the screen and detachably securingithe standards and. the

ibeam insspaced and substantially parallel relation'to-the screema carriage carried by said beam and movable along the same, an air brush car- :riedbys said carriage for discharging paint upon the screen, andmeans for impartingreciprocatingmovement to. said carriage back and forth along :the'beam.

extending horizontally between said standards and shiftable vertically along the standardsto adjusted positions, arms extending forwardly from said standards in spaced relation to each other longitudinally of the standards, clamps carried by said arms and adjustable longitudinally thereon and adaptedto grip side portions of the screen and secure the standards and the beam in predetermined spaced relation tothe screen, a

carriage carried by said beam and movable along the same, an air brush carried by said carriage for discharging paint upon the screen, and means for imparting reciprocating movement to said carriage back and forth along the beam.

4. An apparatus for painting a motion picture screen comprising vertical standards for disposition at opposite sides of the screen, a beam extending horizontally between said standards and shiftable vertically along the standards to adjusted positions, clamps extending forwardly from said standards in spaced relation to each other longitudinally thereof, said clamps being adjustable longitudinally and adapted to grip the screen at opposite sides thereof and detachably secure the standards and the beam in predetermined s'paced and substantially parallel relation to the, screen, a carriage carried by said beam and movable along the same transversely across the front of the screen, an air brush carried by said carriage and directed forwardly therefrom screen at opposite sides thereof and detachably secure the standards and the beam in predetermined spaced and substantially parallel relation to the screen, a carriage carried by said beam and movable along the same transversely across the front of the screen, an air brush carried by said carriage and directed forwardly therefrom for discharging paint upon the screen as the carriage moves along the beam, and means for imparting reciprocating motion to said carriage including a motor carried by the beam, a re, versing switch for said motor carried by said beam and having a switch lever, actuating levers carried by said beams adjacent ends thereof in position for engagement by said carriage, and flexible members extending from opposite sides of theswitch lever longitudinally of the beam and secured to saidactuating levers for opera tively connecting the actuating levers with the latch lever and adjusting the reversing switch to reverse-the motor directional movement of the carriage along the beam.

6. In a painting device having an air brush mounted on a carriage that reciprocates horizontally across the surface to be painted; means for remotely actuatingthe trigger of said brush to control flow of paint and air therethrough, said means comprising a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said carriage adjacent said brush, a looped member attached to one arm of said lever and positioned toslip over the trigger of said brush, spring means attached to the other arm position, and a flexible means :ztor movingsaid latch to a position for releasing said rack and permitting return of the trigger to a normal position; a a a n. V

JOSEPH J ."I'EODONNQ. 

